Cannonball
by This Girl Maybe
Summary: Life taught me to die….when you float like a cannonball…" BuffyFaith, prequel to "My Brown Eyed Girl"


Title: Cannonball  
  
Summary: "Life taught me to die….when you float like a cannonball…". Prequel to "My Brown Eyed Girl", totally Buffy/Faith.  
  
A/N: Someone said that it wasn't right to start my fic with Buffy and Faith liking each other…so here's my attempt at some less than fluffy happenings (OK, I admit, it's fluffy to the extreme! It's an addiction, don't worry I take tablets!) I lurve all of your reviews and keep 'em coming; you're all great!  
  
This story is set a few hours after the events of Chosen.  
  
Buffy sat on the grimy motel bedroom, her head banging with the thoughts of what they had lost, not just her, but everyone. Anya had almost died, as had Robin and Spike did. Her brow furrowed as she thought of him; he'd known that she was lying. Was she that transparent? Maybe she loved him in a way, but it wasn't the all-consuming, passionate love that she was craving.  
  
Strangely, her eyes flicked straight towards Faith at that thought, sitting on windowsill smoking, the open window letting in cold air that refreshed Buffy's body. Cars zoomed past, probably fleeing Sunnydale and its massive implosion…Buffy laughed to herself, And they thought that was bad… If they'd known what they'd faced at the Hellmouth, they'd be running a lot faster.  
  
The motel room was nothing to write home about, but if she had a home to write to, she would have described it as cheap. But when you had thirty plus girls to house, she wasn't looking for the Ritz.   
  
"Whatcha thinking about B?" Faith said without turning round. She didn't know whether it was her Slayer sense, or just intuition, but she could feel Buffy's piercing gaze bore into her back. She stubbed out the cigarette on the windowsill, not caring about what she did to it; it was practically an improvement.  
  
Buffy sighed audibly, how could she articulate the thoughts running through her brain? And the adrenaline caused laughs of the Potentials rung in her ears. She could almost pick out Dawn's guffaws, picturing her and the others running up and down the corridors squealing as though it were a holiday. If only she could have been so relieved… "What the hell I'm gonna do after we leave here…"  
  
Faith snorted, "Feel like you're a little identity-less without your calling?" She teased, not meaning to be as harsh as she sounded…she didn't fancy going back to her old ways anymore. There was something about what she'd done today. It changed her whole outlook.  
  
Buffy shrugged, either not aware or not caring about Faith's joking, "You're surprised? I have no calling, no job 'cause it's not exactly like I have students to counsel any more is it?…There's not even a school to counsel actually…" She smiled lightly as Faith turned around on the windowsill to face her. "What you thinking of doing?"  
  
"Not sure. Can't think straight at the moment." Faith mused, seriously wondering where the hell she was going to go. With her record, she wasn't going to be the most desirable employee in the United States. Most wanted maybe.  
  
"How about LA?" Buffy said spontaneously and Faith smiled; it was just like her to suggest going somewhere full of people who weren't exactly normal. They'd both fit right in. "All I know is Giles can forget about me going to Cleveland. There's a dozen other Slayers who can do that without my help." She sighed happily, lying back on the bed; "Yep, Dawnie and I are going to LA."  
  
"You sure Peanut would be up for that?" She asked, moving to sit on the opposite bed.  
  
"It's sunny and there's cute guys…I'm pretty sure she'll be alright about it." Buffy sat up on her elbows. "You could always come with."  
  
Faith almost fell off the bed, "What?" She asked incredulously; why the hell would B want her tagging along with her and Little Sis?  
  
"You. Come. To. LA. With. Us." Buffy said slowly with a small joking smile, scratching her arm absently.  
  
Faith swallowed deeply, it was going to take some Oscar-winning acting to get through this, "Uh, I don't know B. Maybe not. I think I'll probably catch up with some old friends in Boston." She lied, almost hoping that Buffy saw through her pretence.  
  
Apparently, Buffy did. "Come on, you can't kid me. Ya really wanna go back there?" She questioned, hoping she wasn't pushing too hard…Faith didn't take kindly to being joked about. "Dawnie and I'll probably rent a house y'know…something permanent. There'll be room."  
  
Faith looked down at the bedcovers, trying not to feel incredibly vulnerable, her emotions at Buffy's every whim, but she couldn't seem to help it. "What about Red? Or Xander?"  
  
Buffy swiped her hand cheerily, every second becoming increasingly enthused with the idea. She'd come to have something of a reluctant adoration for Faith over the last few weeks. What that meant, she had no idea. But the sound of Faith living with her; a friend who wasn't preoccupied with an ex-vengeance demon, money or Wicca sounded like a good idea to her. "Xander has Anya who I'm pretty sure are doing it right now…and Will has Kennedy who I'd say; ditto. They'll probably go half way across the world, or live a few blocks away but I think they've had their fill of living with me…"  
  
Faith grinned inwardly at Buffy's growing enthusiasm. Could she really say no? If she was truly honest with herself, she would've said yes the first time Buffy had asked. But she had a few things she needed to clear up…"Buffy…" She said seriously, gaining her friend's attention mainly through the fact she rarely heard her full name from Faith's mouth. And it sounded good. "There's somethings we need to talk about."  
  
Buffy knew exactly what Faith was going to say. "I know. And you're not a completely changed person, I understand that. And I can live with it. So can Dawnie; you know how she looks up to you." Buffy paused and then spoke again, just when Faith was about to talk, "But I think that you feel bad, even remorseful about what happened…and that's a major U-turn."  
  
How the hell did Buffy know what she was feeling? Was she exuding these emotions or was Buffy just so good at reading her that they didn't need words? Either way…she was freaked.  
  
"Unless you wanna stay with Robin of course…" Buffy ended, regaining Faith's attention, which had been lost for a few moments.  
  
Faith shook her head vehemently, and then realising what she must have looked like, stopped. He was just a replacement, someone to unblock those pesky emotions. And maybe she wanted to have sex with someone who liked her, and who she liked back…however insignificant those feelings were. "I don't B." She thought of Wood who was lying in a hospital, nursing his wounds. Andrew was with him, probably annoying the hell outta the now ex-Principal of Sunnydale High. "He was just…a night."  
  
Buffy didn't want to smile with relief. No siree Bob. She didn't want to feel glad that there was nothing between them. Nope. She didn't at all. Uh-uh. No way. See, no smile. OK, so there was a small one.  
  
One Faith noticed with a flutter of excitement in her belly. Which was totally alien to her, yet comforting at the same time. "So I guess we'll be living together for a while then?" Buffy said, climbing over to Faith's bed.  
  
She relished the familiar smell of Buffy, she could smell her distinctive scent even before the shower but now it was even stronger; it was one of safety. And that scared the hell outta Faith. "Yeah, guess so." She replied, trying to resist the urge to take in a breath of Buffy's hair. God, what the hell was she doing?  
  
Buffy instinctively grabbed Faith's hand. "Don't worry…" She said, responding to the apprehension she sensed in Faith's eyes. "It'll be great."  
  
And with the soft press of Buffy's hand against her own, her mind racing with thoughts of the future, she wondered why Buffy's grip felt so good. It was in that quietly reassuring moment that she knew what this strange, almost scary feeling was.  
  
And she knew she was in deep trouble.  
  
"Life taught me to die…   
  
So it's not hard to fall   
  
When you float like a cannonball  
  
'Cause it's not hard to fall   
  
And I don't want to scare her"  
  
Damien Rice, Cannonball  
  
Reviews welcome! 


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